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The latest membership of the three-comma club that is Forbes’ 2018 billionaires list was released Tuesday and it featured a ‘wealth’ of people with ties to the Greater Boston Area.
Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, both dropouts of Harvard University, finished second and fifth on the list with $90 billion and $71 billion, respectively. These guys are the exception, though – stay in school, kids! Gates was dethroned from the top spot by Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, whose fortune tops $112 billion.
Is there something in that ‘dirty’ water we all love that makes Bostonians so business-savvy? Three business moguls, all born in the Boston Area, made the top 500. Medford native and former mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg fell just outside the top 10, landing in 11th place with $50 billion. Dorchester-born Sheldon Adelson, CEO of the largest casino company in America, came in 21st with $38.5 billion. Former Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone was further down the list at 401st with $4.4 billion.
A trio of CEOs from Boston-based companies were also present, including New Balance’s Jim Davis ($5.3 billion, 365th), Fidelity Investments’ Abigail Johnson ($15.9 billion, 365th) and her father, former CEO of Fidelity, Edward C. Johnson III ($7.9 billion, 196th).
Of course, the self-anointed city of champions is also well-represented by the owners of its sports teams. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was 281st with $6.2 billion. Jeremy Jacobs, owner of the Boston Bruins was 456th with $4.6 billion. Red Sox owner John Henry also made the top 1,000 – he was 956th with $2.5 billion.
Is it any coincidence that green is an official state color of Massachusetts..?
SOURCE: Boston.com